Home Appliances
Pressure cooker and LPG are most preferred appliances in a modern kitchen. This is because high pressure steam cooks almost everything fast, and anything cooked in a pressure cooker is moist and succulent unlike microwaved foods. Even cooking meat is quick and will be similar in texture to crock pot meats. Pressure cooker is made of high density aluminum and stainless steel and these 2nd generation pressure cookers are a "closed system" which hardly any steam is released until a certain pressure is attained.The advantages of using a pressure cooker for day to day cooking are endless. But the biggest three advantages of using pressure cooker are1. Steam pressure buildup allows the food to attain required temperature fast thus saves time and cooking fuel.2. Since steam doesn t escape throughout you are assured of no loss of nutrients.3. The sheer rugged construction makes it pretty safe to cook.But why is the hype about its safety features? Look at the material of construction. It is either high density alloy of aluminum or completely stainless steel with thickness of 4mm sufficient to withstand pressures of upto 25Kgf/sq cm which is 2.5 times greater than the normal pressure. This feature is common for all sizes and regardless of inner or outer lid types. When pressure crosses 10Kgf/sq cm, which is the safe working pressure, a safety valves goes off hooting and releasing some of it. In addition, there are two more valves which go off in a sequence when the first fails to function. This arrangement is in place to just ensure that it never bursts.Still there are some down sides to the wonder cooker. Fruitcake made in a pressure cooker is firm, dark and very moist and sticky to touch. The water and steam in a boiling pressure cooker are both hotter than they would. Before you buy a cooker it is not just enough to go by its features. You will also need to compare similar models from different manufacturers. Compare models feature to feature, look for handling conveniences or the absence there off, warrantee after sales service etc. Buying a reputed brand reduces your risk to frequent damages to gasket and the blow-off safety valve which is critical.Cooking times for almost all foods are approximately 1/4-1/3 faster than in a microwave. If this sounds like a time and fuel saving feature, let me warn you, don t go far off from kitchen with the cooker on.
Article Published: Saturday 17th March 2007
